My Notes for Episode 21: 

1. Lessons from the bird that flew away

Ye Li: Once some things are gone, they’re gone. That’s why I don’t want to take anything easily. For what one possesses, one must guard with care.
MXY: I will always stay by your side.

a. Ye Li has attachment-phobia.

From her childhood experience, she’s learned that nothing is permanent and everything is transient. And since she cannot cage, lock away and keep anything/anybody precious forever, she’s decided to avoid being emotionally invested and forming deep bonds.

Sad as this perspective may be, I prefer that she adopted this sort of restraint and self-denial than the flip side. She could have chosen “relationship hopping” as an answer to her craving for permanence in her life.

b. How many times will Mo Xiu Yao need to promise to stay by her side? Do I need to keep track?

I like that he instantly grasped the thing that she left unspoken.

Earlier that day, he saw her with a dog, and he thought she needed a pet for companion. To me, it was the other way around. She didn’t need a pet to tame, care for, and be responsible for. Rather, she wanted someone to claim her as his “pet,” i.e., to seek her companionship, claim her, care for her, and be responsible for her.

c. YL is one very lonely person.

Ye Li is a very capable and independent woman. After all, she’s learned to survive on her own during her sojourn in the Li mountain. But just because she doesn’t need anyone beside her to exist doesn’t mean that she doesn’t long for someone with her.

2. She stopped him from deepening their kiss.

This is her attachment phobia in action. Her excuse is that she had just applied his medication.

Do I need to count kisses?

3. The welcoming parties of the princess from Cangbei

a. The official welcoming party outside the gate

I was underwhelmed by the size of the armies of both sides, but I’m glad that the director didn’t blow her budget on hiring extras. She could have used CGI though.

I did wonder whether the Princess’ carriage was a Trojan horse, concealing warriors and weaponry. I’m not surprised that MXY ordered the carriage changed, even if just the jade was ordered removed.

The Cangbei Princess ordered her maid, Su Zui Dier, to impersonate her because she went off to meet her friend and penpal Feng.

BTW, Lady Lin Ting Lan is the same lady in Episode 8 for whom the banquet was given. She played the flute and questioned According to Ye Li’s sister-in-law, she’s favored by the Empress Dowager and much admired in the capital. Why? Because unlike most women in that period, she isn’t confined to her chambers and she travels far and wide, helping those in need. Thus, she’s viewed as some sort of folk heroine. I don’t think she’s a baddie, although in Episode 8, Ye Lin “schooled” her. Back then, LTL questioned her about the seeming gender discrimination in the Li Shan Academy. And Ye Lin corrected her misinterpretation/misinformation, pointing out that that the academy accepted everyone, but parents routinely sent only their sons to the academy for higher learning while they kept their daughters at home. In short, blame the society and its prevailing culture/tradition/priorities for the make-up of the student population, not the academy.

b. The unofficial welcoming party

The meeting of Feng ZhiYao and the Princess (disguised as Master Yun) was cute. I haven’t watched Episodes 22-24 yet so I may be wrong in assuming that it was her maid wearing the veil and pretending to the be Princess, inside the carriage.

I like that she evaded his open arms with a slap. (Was he copping a feel of her chest??) I also like their exchange of gifts. He remembered that she mentioned liking marigolds in her letter and was growing a pot just for her. On her part, she gave him cheap wine that she claimed to have brought randomly on the way, but I think the flask looked similar to the one they both drank from when they were in the desert.

c. The official meet-and-greet at the temporary residence of the Cangbei Princess, Princess Ling Yun

Noted: Prince Ding and his Jingzhao Office would handle the security. The daily needs and meals would be handled by LTL and the Court of State Ceremonial.

Noted: That wasn’t the real princess meeting with MXY and LTL.

Noted: The Cangbei General, Lei Teng Feng, had a mini crisis at hand. He urgently ordered his men to capture someone. I’m not sure if it’s the truant Princess or the messenger with a secret message to MXY.

d. And finally, the official royal banquet hosted by the Empress Dowager and Emperor

Ostensibly, the banquet is to welcome the Cangbei Princess to Great Chu. In reality, however, it’s to introduce eligible bachelors to the Cangbei Princess so a marital alliance can be formed between the two ex-warring countries.

One invited guest to the banquet seems out of place, however, as he looks nothing like the rest of the husband-candidates.

He’s the shorter and older man.

He’s the Vice Director of the Ministry of Works, Zhong Xing Tong. According to MXY, he’s renowned for developing weapons for the army. I don’t know why he was invited to the banquet as he can’t obviously marry into a former enemy-state (you can’t risk the transfer of knowledge on how to make armaments), but I’m guessing it has something to do with the plot to assassinate him.

Ye Li is excited to meet him because they both share an interest in constellations. Obviously, the screenwriter is setting us up for an important connection/development later on with this man.

4. I like the banter between YL and MXY after they’ve greeted all the guests to the royal banquet.

MXY: Princess Ling Yun is at the perfect age to be married. (Thus) the descendants of the imperial family, the scholars from humble backgrounds, the handsome ones, and the talented ones all want to grab this opportunity to secure a bright future.
YL: (sighing loudly) However, you’ve married young. Otherwise, you could have been a candidate for Princess Ling Yun.

To me, she’s trying to be self-deprecating here. She’s saying that it’s too bad that he’s already married to her because Princess Ling Yun would have been a good match for him as the princess could elevate his status and importance in the royal court. She’s obviously not a “catch” like the princess.

MXY: (staring at her) With so many great men in the city, why would she choose a cripple like me?

In response, he levels up his self-deprecation. He means that nobody in her right mind would marry him; his physical disability makes him undesirable.

YL: (pointing to herself)

Lol. She’s reminding him that she chose a cripple like him. In her eyes, he outshines all the other “great men” in the city despite his handicap, and she doesn’t consider her decision to marry him as foolish or misguided.

I think he’s pleased by her unabashed show of loyalty because he grabs her hand.

MXY: (grinning) Let’s go.

This light-hearted exchange reminds me of the serious conversation back in Episode 1. Back then, he tried to discourage her from marrying him.

MXY: Prince Li is handsome and has a gentle temperament. He’s skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He’s the ideal husband for the noble ladies in the Capital. But I am unable to walk. My legs are disabled. Our family is also in disgrace. Our glory days are over. From being Prince Li’s betrothed to becoming my bride, how do you feel?
YL: So Prince Li is that popular now. No wonder he broke off the engagement. I haven’t left the mountain in years, so I didn’t know. But Your Highness, though your glory days are over, Li Mountain Academy is nothing better. Our marriage is like a withered lotus meeting a dying willow, or a withered grass meeting a jackdaw. We are a perfect match. So let’s not look down on each other.

The difference between then and now is glaring.

Back then, their future appeared bleak. Hence, the reference to withered lotus, dying willow, withered grass, jackdaw (or a crow??). These images evoke decline, ending, and mortality.

Back then, they were like jetsam and flotsam…or debris found at sea. MXY is like a human flotsam or floating debris from a shipwreck. His family was ruined and he was an unwanted royal family member in the court. Meanwhile, YL is a human jetsam or ship cargo that is thrown overboard to lighten the ship’s load. The Ye family couldn’t cut ties with her and her mother fast enough after the LiShan Academy was targeted by the Queen Dowager usurped power.

Back then, YL had to establish that they were in the same boat. As such, their marriage is a union between equals. Neither of them is superior nor inferior to the other person.

But now, there’s a sense of hope growing in them. He’s no longer crippled because of her medical intervention. They’ve found purpose in their lives: he’s rooting out the corruption and taking down the Marquis; she’s avenging wrongful deaths of her Academy seniors and restoring MXY and his clan’s glory. And their marriage? They can laugh and joke at being “rejects” of society.

5. Lady Lin TingLan warns Qin Cang about working for the Marquis.

Although she means well, she goes about it the wrong way.

First, she tries to hire or poach him from the Marquis’ employment by offering him 10x more pay. Tsk tsk tsk. She comes off as arrogant.

Next, she bluntly tells him that Marquis is arrogant and has lots of enemies. She predicts that he won’t last long.

Uh oh. She’s unaware that the Marquis is Qin Cang’s biological father and Qin Cang is very loyal (blindingly so!) to his father. He has daddy issues because the Marquis refuses to acknowledge him as his son.

But she isn’t wrong with she warns him, “If you stay with him, I’m afraid you won’t come to a good end.”

Then, she bribes him with a future recommendation for a palace job.

In my opinion, Qin Cang would’ve found her offer tempting as he originally wanted to leave the Marquis’ employment and work in the palace. (But his job offer was rescinded after his stepbrother, Zhou Tianyang, complained.) So Lady Lin TingLan’s job placement offer should’ve been appealing to him. However, her boasting must have rubbed him the wrong way. She said, “Actually, my word carries much more weight than his.”

Woman! It’s his father you’re attacking.

To an ordinary woman, his wordless look at her, followed by his loud scoff and quick bow, would have been enough to mortify her. It’s as clear as day that he’s rejecting her offer and that he feels disdain for her. But LTL has a thick skin, so she presses on.

LTL: I’m doing this for your own good. Think it over carefully. Once you’ve made up your mind, you can come to me anytime.

Once more, he ignores her. He simply leaves the handkerchief on the ground.

It’s noteworthy that before LTL arrived on the scene, he was touching his chest where he had hidden her handkerchief.

To me, that action meant that he had lingering feelings for her. (Also, he looked uncomfortable when the Marquis tried to foist his son Zhou Tianyang on LTL.) But after she lectures him, he aligns himself fully with the Marquis.

So many lessons to gain from this scene. For example,

a. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

b. “You can win more flies with honey.”

c. “Blood is thicker than water.”

6. I like that the Empress Dowager relies on Ye Li to act like a diplomat.

Ye Li definitely has a way with words. The Empress Dowager has two other court ladies on the scene to depend on: LTL who’s supposedly the head of the welcoming committee and her bestie/confidant, Consort Dowager Qin. But when tension arises because of a drunken scholar’s criticism of the Cangbei princess’ political exploits, the Empress Dowager asks Ye Li for her opinion.

Ye Li defuses the tension with measured words and humor.

YL: Your Majesty. I believe what Scholar Luo said is nonsense. Princess Ling Yun, no need to take it to heart. As the saying goes, “If you don’t see or ask yourself, you cannot know the full truth.” Scholar Luo, you are still young. I bet you’ve never been to Cangbei. So you don’t know the Emperor of Cangbei or the details of Canbei’s internal affairs. How could you make such reckless judgments?

Meaning, he’s a scholar but his knowledge isn’t based on first-hand information or experiential learning. He speaks from incomplete or ignorant assumptions.

YL: Furthermore, Her and His Majesties gathered us here to welcome Princess Ling Yun. Princess Ling Yun is our guest. We should offer toasts and gifts with both sincerity and friendliness. We shall not be rude, mean, or aggressive.

She outlines the unspoken rules of diplomacy.

YL: Princess Ling Yun, please do not blame him. You possess such extraordinary beauty, outshining everyone here. Even as a woman myself, I am captivated by your charm.

She appeals to flattery.

YL: Most of those present today are the young, talented masters of Great Chu. It is only natural for young men to be drawn to beauty. Sometimes, to win a beauty’s favor, it’s not weird for them to take extreme measures and be careless with words.

Lol. I think she appeals to sexism and gender stereotypes. She suggests that Scholar Luo acted like a “typical” male, creating drama in order to attract the Princess’ attention. (But don’t women do this, too?)

Her strategy works, though.

7. The Princess’ maid, Su Zui Dier

Ugh. She spells trouble.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Episode 22 to follow…